User Reviews

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
Sloane
a AudioPhile

Date Reviewed: July 25, 2008

Bottom Line:

The Jolida JD 700 does play dvds, which is unfortunate, because I know audiophiles will never imagine that an audio component which can play a video is a bona fide world class musical masterpiece. Which it absolutely is. I sold my Musical Fidelity (which made affordable world class amplifiers...when they were British built) Nu Vista cd player to buy the JD 700. It made the Nu Vista sound like a kenwood...and I am a big MF fan, a MF A3 cr is my current power amp.
I stumbled upon the Jolida in a small inconspicuos stereo shop which to my amazement had $5,000 and UP components literally laying around. The owner is a highly respected audio engineer who has made, patented, and sold rights to speakers which are legendary in an audiophile cult. When I asked if he had any used cd players that were phenomenal, he said he had one demo, the JD 700. He had a McCormack/Cary setup breaking in speakers he just designed...and apologized that the $5,000 Cary preamp wasn't very good. He knocked the $5,000 Cary, and praised the $1200 Jolida. He was knowledgable and objective as anyone I've ever met regarding sound.
The JD 700 is a tube cd player. I cannot stress how much better this tube cd player sounds over solid state. It's like cds compared to records. That big. He told me that the transport in the JD is the exact same one Cary sells for $8,000...for the transport only. I asked him what tubes I should use in the JD (he already told me that the standard tubes were only used to allow the JD to work...Jolida expects the buyer to install tubes according to their preference). He called the owner of Jolida who recommended Mullards, late 1950/early 1960 longtubes from a specfic factory in England, which I bought and am using.
My friend owns a Nu Vista M3 integrated amp. He bought the dedicated JD 100 cd player against all my advice. Then took it back and ordered a JD 700. Between my friend and me, we have owned cd players ranging from MF NuVista to Wadia and Conrad Johnson cd players costing waayyy more than the JD 700 which we both now own, and the improvement is unbelievable/impossible. At the highest level of audio gear (or close to it), gains in quality are so small and expensive between makers and models. The JD 700 SHOULD NOT SOUND THIS MUCH BETTER THAN CD PLAYERS COSTING $4,000 OR MORE, BUT IT SIMPLY DOES.